


Take Your Papers, Please

by Hatsage7



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Archer did exactly that to keep Servants from getting deported lmao, Gen, Identity Issues, Post-Canon, Tax Fraud, identity fraud is so easy if you know how to do it, where Andy Dufrene explains to Red how he created an identity to launder money?, you know that part in the Shawshank Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29935722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hatsage7/pseuds/Hatsage7
Summary: Who is Sasaki Kojirou? A Servant? A shadow of a man? A puppet for a cruel Caster who forgot about him once his usefulness was outlived? Is he even... real?Well, according to this handy-dandy document Archer (illegally) filed with the local bank, Sasaki Kojirou is a slight credit risk and doesn't quite seem to have his paperwork in order. He's a real person *now*, I guess!
Relationships: Heroic Spirit EMIYA | Archer & Sasaki Kojirou | Assassin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Take Your Papers, Please

**Author's Note:**

> this draws on one or two very specific headcanons for my ideal Post-Story Fateverse. how do we get from the Holy Grail War seen in the many routes of Fate to the comfy domestic stuff from Emiya Gohan?
> 
> 1) the Holy Grail War ended with no casualties, Archer got his shit together and got everyone motivated enough to save the day  
> 2) they killed kirei immediately after destroying the Grail because a) he put Bazett in a coma and would have killed her if not for [SPOILERS] and b) he literally killed orphans and hid the bodies in his basement fuck that guy  
> 3) the Servants are just the Justice League, and Archer is Batman baby, hyper-competent emotionally-stunted protagonist let's goooooo  
> 4) Cu and Medusa have jobs, which means they got citizenship papers at some point, and i rubbed my brain cells together thinking of how that happened and got this
> 
> Enjoy!

The man called Sasaki Kojirou knelt at the top of the stairs to Ryuudou temple. He maintained his position there every hour of every day. 

When it rained, he would retreat to the left-hand side of the temple’s gate, where the branches of the trees grew slightly thicker and shielded him from the inclement weather. When the sky was empty and the sun beat down, he would alternate positions so as to follow the shade of the trees, or else simply pull up his clothes to minimize the heat on his skin. It had not hailed nor snowed since he had been summoned, but he would surely find a way to be relatively comfortable while guarding the temple if it ever did.

In the three months since the end of the Holy Grail War, he had not gone further away from his post than down to the landing closest to the gate, to practice his forms where no eyes might see a cause for concern, and he had not gone more than ten steps past the threshold when Caster had called out to him with a question about preparing fish.

Their relationship was… strained. He had been summoned to serve her, in what was a mild violation of the rules of the Holy Grail War. It had been extremely unpleasant, and he would have liked nothing better than to wash his hands of her. Of course, life was never so simple, and even after the end of the war, when she had settled extremely well into the role of housewife and had been bound to stop using magic (particularly on others), he had still needed a source of mana. Caster had been the most… convenient option, since she and her family still required protection and he had no desire to learn the skills needed for this brave new world.

So: he guarded the temple. He knelt, because today was his day of rest after several days of rigorous exercise and improvement. He did not pray, nor did he compose haikus as a proper samurai might have done -- for those would have been distractions to the purpose of guarding the temple.

The monks, perhaps considering him some sort of traditionalist in his odd garb, isolation, and ability to withstand material concerns, let him be for the most part. They didn’t want to make his non-existent vows more difficult to observe. They nodded their heads whenever they came and went from the temple, they brought him naan bread every two weeks (and what a simple, delightful experience that had been, simply eating flatbread for the first time), and they left a jug of water by the steps every morning. He had one cup at sunrise and one at sunset. It was more than he needed. He was perfectly content. A Servant like him, the half-formed memory of a legend of a real man, required nothing more.

...though, as he became aware of another Servant climbing the steps to the temple, he realized he wouldn’t mind a fight.

He remained kneeling but draped the sword he had laid beside him across his knees. The Servant certainly wasn’t in a rush; they were taking the stairs one at a time, when they could have chosen to leap from landing to landing, or approach through the forest, or simply travel in spirit form and rematerialize at their final destination (though admittedly, it had become more taxing to do that last one without assistance from the Throne of Heroes). Approaching the temple so aggressively, however, would have of course led to a fight between the Assassin and the assailant, so it seemed a certainty that violence wasn’t on the agenda.

The Servant had gotten closer, and the man called Sasaki Kojirou could now see that it was Archer. He wasn’t dressed in his usual red and black. His clothes were modern, and, from what little he had observed from how Souichirou dressed, “business casual”. He wore a pale blue button-up shirt, strained almost to the breaking point across the man’s massive chest, sleeves rolled up to expose his muscular arms, as well as long khaki trousers and a dark belt to match his fine shoes. He was also wearing a rather nice watch, which added to the air of professionalism he was deliberately cultivating.

If he hadn’t known better, he might have thought Archer to be a totally ordinary, unremarkable man.

He couldn’t help but notice the folder the bowman carried with him. The other Servant had noticed him as he climbed the steps, continuing his climb at an unbroken pace while flipping through his folder.

Was this a weapon of some sort? The two of them hadn’t spoken since the tentative peace negotiated at the end of the Holy Grail War, and there hadn’t been any need nor desire to speak further. He talked with Caster, occasionally, but only in Fuyuki proper, never in the temple. Their relationship was quite strained, but oddly stable, given some sort of mutual respect and a need for the other’s abilities that Assassin simply wasn’t privy to. The folder suggested… some sort of strategy? Possible leverage over Caster?

He frowned as Archer finally came to the top of the stairs. He was still trying to determine if the other Servant was a threat, and if it was something requiring Caster’s attention or merely his own words of warning.

They regarded each other for several seconds. Assassin did not rise, but he did grip the scabbard of his sword pointedly.

Eventually, Archer spoke. “Sasaki Kojirou. That is your name.”

He bowed his head ever so slightly. “I have the honor of sharing that name with another. But I am not the man. You know this, I believe.”

“It wasn’t a question.”

“I didn’t think it was one.”

Silence settled between the two again. Archer cleared his throat and pulled out a packet of crisp paper, dense with text, and began to read. “Sasaki Kojirou. Born Fukui Prefecture, 13th of April, 1981 -- you’re an Aries now, congratulations, born in the year of the Rooster. It’s the closest thing in the zodiac to a sparrow; I hope you don’t mind. I also used the historical Kojirou’s death date for your date of birth, which might be a little strange, but it’s as close to authentic as I could manage.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What are you --”

“Sasaki Kojirou recently moved to Fuyuki in hopes of picking up some freelance work. He’s saved up some petty cash, so he tried opening a checking account with Fuyuki First Bank. Funnily enough, they had some trouble verifying his records. Probably by virtue of him not existing until they tried to do so.”

He grabbed the hilt of his sword. “Explain yourself. What sort of bizarre trick are you trying to perform here?”   
  


Archer grinned, a tight-lipped sly smile that reminded him far too much of Caster for comfort. “It’s a very old, very reliable trick, Assassin -- the kind where you make a person appear out of thin air.”

“You will explain your intentions, or I will remove you from the temple grounds, Archer.” He unsheathed roughly a span of steel. This sort of masculine posturing was not the way he would usually conduct himself, but… something about this man, poking and prodding at his identity like this… unsettled him.

The bowman sighed, as if  _ Assassin _ was the one being obtuse here. “Let me go back for just a moment. Lancer’s been doing odd jobs around Fuyuki to keep busy. Did you know about this?”

“...he delivers things to the temple, on occasion. He brings up groceries that can’t be grown on the grounds.”

“Exactly,” Archer said, nodding. “So he has a lot of side jobs. The problem being, of course, that he doesn’t have any proof of his identity. A birth certificate, driver’s license, the other documents needed to fill out a work form: he couldn’t possibly produce those, on account of being Cu Chulainn.”

“What does this have to do with… with what you just said, and those papers?”

Archer held up a hand and continued. “This isn’t a problem for Lancer, given that all of his current employers are affiliated with organized crime. However, Medusa expressed some interest in being able to work for a living, and I started thinking about how much more useful it would be if we had civilian identities. I spent some time finding a solution --” he flicked his wrist, rustling the papers in his hand loudly, “and this is the result.”

...Assassin sheathed his sword, but kept the scabbard in his grip as he got to his feet. “I’m afraid you’ll have to continue explaining:  _ how _ were you able to forge identities for Heroic Spirits? That  _ is _ what you did, isn’t it? I hope I’m not that dense.”

“It’s easy once you know how certain things are done and filed. Of course, I need to get a little more creative with the others, but since you’re  _ actually  _ Japanese and Medea, I assume, has no other ambitions beyond marrying Souichirou and living happily ever after, these should suffice.”

Assassin continued to stare at him blankly.

“It’s not --” Archer made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a growl, and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Look, opening an account at a bank requires a lot of documentation. I filled out a few forms and submitted them.”

“Filled them out… with details for a person who doesn’t exist,” Assassin said cautiously.

“Yes, exactly. There’s no record of Sasaki Kojirou or Medea Colchis existing  _ until _ the bank processed that falsified information and made a record of it. Now, these applications contain all the relevant information in proving a person exists. On paper, at least. All in a single convenient place, too.” Archer held out the stapled pages to Assassin.

He… stared at them, for a while. He took the packet slowly, and he read each line with a keen eye. It wasn’t long; it was three pages all told. That’s all that was needed to prove he was -- real.

He glared at Archer as soon as the idea crossed his mind. “This is far too easy.”

‘Well, you say that now, but I’m going to have to show you how a fucking email address works, and if the two of you are even half as inept as Tohsaka is with technology --”

“What? No, I don’t mean --” He cut himself off, biting down on his tongue.

Archer seemed confused. “Is something wrong? If you need me to explain something, obviously I’d be happy to help, but it’s certainly better to get this all out of the way now. Spit it out.”

He tightened his grip on the papers, then immediately regretted it as the edges crumpled in his hands. “What do you  _ want? _ For all of your hard work. I’ll not offer my talents in exchange for this like the others do, if that’s what you’re after.”

“You think I give a shit about what you can  _ do _ for me?” Archer asked. He seemed genuinely unimpressed with Assassin -- with Kojirou’s -- he seemed nonplussed. “This is about me. It’s better for all of us to have human identities if we’re going to be living with them for the foreseeable future.”

“But -- I-I’m not -- I’m not  _ going _ to live with them. I-I have to stay here, and guard this temple. Don’t you understand?”

Archer’s face softened with  _ pity _ , so disgusting that -- that  _ the samurai  _ would have thrown the papers right back at him had they not been so precious. He looked back down at the forms in his hand. The bowman placed a hand on his shoulder, and only then did he realize he had started shaking.

“Whatever you do from now on should be your decision, Kojirou. Whether you stay here, or… hypothetically, if you ever wanted to break away from Medea… this gives you options.”

He didn’t say anything. He kept rereading the boxes on the page:  _ his _ date of birth,  _ his _ height,  _ his _ eye color,  _ his _ hair color… his name.

“You deserve to choose who you are,” Archer said gently. “It’s your identity. It doesn’t belong to anyone else.”

“...thank you.”

Archer shrugged, like it was no big deal. “I’m going to give Medea her papers, now. I imagine she’ll have a few questions about marriage and the paperwork associated with that, though Souichirou can handle most of that stuff in his name… anyway. Is it okay if I go to see her now?”

Kojirou blinked dumbly. “Of course.” He stepped aside to let Archer pass.

“Thank you.” He dipped his head, tucked the folder back under his arm, and walked onto the temple grounds.

“Archer,” he called out, before he really knew what he was doing.

He looked over his shoulder at Kojirou, stopping just a few paces away.

Kojirou grinned at him. “You mentioned something about email, earlier. I expect I’ll need your help figuring that out. Perhaps… lessons, once a week, or something along those lines.”

Archer answered back with a grin of his own. “Something like that, yeah. Maybe drinks at a bar nearby. One of these days.”

“One of these days. We’ll see.”

Archer gave a little wave-salute and went on his way to his business with Medea.

Kojiro turned back to face the steps. He contemplated the cherry trees flanking the stone stairway, and for the first time, he began to compose a haiku about them.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> yes, i definitely chose april 13th for Kojirou's and Medea's birthday's because i wanted Medea to be an Aries and that date is the aries-taurus cusp which just seemed PERFECT. the historical factor is secondary but also EXTREMELY clutch and it seems appropriate for them to share a b-day, homestuck reasons don't come into it at all don't @ me --
> 
> (for the record, Medea was born in the year of the sheep, which would have been 1979 so on paper she's technically older than Kojiro shhhhh don't tell her)


End file.
